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On 8th Dec. Sunday New Vrindavan was covered by Snow Read more ›

The lounge reopens Tuesday 21st January 2014.

We hope you had a fantastic summer break!

Recently I posted a quote by my Gurudeva, Śrīmad Dhanurdhara Swāmī, to a Facebook Page I maintain on his behalf. The quote is: “Argumentative logic is part of the ego of trying to establish oneself to be superior. Once you get into that mood you can never understand God. There is no way you can realize the Absolute Truth without becoming the humble servant of the Absolute Truth.”

The post generated a lot of attention and a few comments displaying a dissenting opinion and an enduring appreciation for the apparent value of argumentative logic. It was my honor that Gurudev asked me to reply to the comments, suggesting I base my reply on the 74th and 75th sūtras of Śrī Nārada Bhakti Sūtra.

Here is the reply I made:

वादो नावलम्ब्यः ॥७४॥ बाहुल्यावकाशत्वादनियतत्वाच्च ॥७५॥
vādo nāvalambyaḥ (74) bahulyāvakāśatvād aniyatatvāc ca (75)

“Do not depend upon logic and argument. They lead to endless debate, and no clear conclusion.” 

What should we do with our intellect, if not argue and debate? Sūtra 76 explains:

भक्तिशास्त्राणि मननीयानि तद्बोधककर्माणि करणीयानि ॥७६॥
bhakti-śāstrāṇi mananīyāni tad-bodhaka-karmaṇi karaṇīyāni (76)

“Respectfully apply your mind to the Bhakti Śāstras, and perform acts which empower you to comprehend them.”

We can justify our argumentativeness by saying that it is “for Krishna.” But in fact we are not supposed to be argumentative, period. We are supposed to apply our minds (manas) in a respectful, receptive spirit (mananīyāni) to the bhakti-śāstras, presided over by Śrīmad Bhāgavatam.

“Preaching” does not involve argument, either. It involves respectfully and affectionately explaining the bhakti-śāstra to others. “Tad-bodhaka” (intellectual comprehension of bhakti) arises not from argumentative “preaching” but by affectionate and respectful mutual engagement in “tad-bodhaka-karmani” (the deeds and conduct which facilitates comprehension of bhakti).

Here is the statement of Yudhiṣṭhira Mahārāja, from Mahābhārata, Vana-Parva 313.117, quoted by the great logician Prakāśānanda Sarasvatī after he was impressed deeply by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu:

तर्को ऽप्रतिष्ठः श्रुतयो विभिन्ना नासाव् ऋषिर् यस्य मतं न भिन्नम्।
धर्मस्य तत्त्वं निहितं गुहायां महाजनो येन गतः स पन्थाः॥

tarko ‘pratiṣṭhaḥ śrutayo vibhinnā
nāsāv ṛṣir yasya mataḿ na bhinnam
dharmasya tattvaḿ nihitaḿ guhāyāḿ
mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ

“The many, many contradictory statements in Śruti (scripture) cannot be rectified by argument, nor is one even thought of as a scholar unless he exaggerates his own differences of opinion. The essential truth exists only with the hearts of great souls, and we should walk upon the path they have chalked out.”

Argument only leads to exaggeration of our differences, it does not lead to clear, unified conclusions. It does not grant vision of the essence of truth. The real path to truth is not traversed by debate, argument and logic – it is traversed by love.

Here is the statement of Śrī Rūpa Goswāmī . In Bhakti-Rasāmṛta Sindhu 1.2.113 he enumerates the 12th – 14th principle practices of sādhana-bhakti:

शिष्याननुबन्दधित्वादि त्रयं यथा सप्तमे
न शिष्याननुबाध्नीत ग्रन्थान्नैवभ्यसेद्बहुन्।
न वाख्यामुपयुज्ञित नारम्भानारभेत क्वचित्॥

śiṣyān anubanddhitvādi trayam yathā saptame:
na śiṣyan anubādhnīta granthān naivabhyased bahūn.
na vākhyām upayuñjita nārambhān ārabhet kvacit.

“About the three principles beginning with not being attached to having disciples, the seventh canto says: ’Never, ever make a big effort to attract disciples, explain many books, or get involved in debates.’”

As the 76th śloka of Nārada Bhakti Sūtra pointed out, it is not that we should be dumb, silly, or voluntarily stupid. We should apply our intellects fully to the bhakti-śāstra in a receptive and respectful mood. It is the absence of the receptive and respectful mood that makes a debate a “debate” and an argument an “argument.” It is what separates “argument” from kīrtan, and “debate” from kathā.

Our valuable time should be engaged in something that will actually make us happy: Krishna-kīrtan and Krishna-kathā. That is why the next sutra in Nārada Bhakti Sūtra says:

(77) सुखदुःखेच्छालाभादित्यक्ते काले प्रतीक्षमाणे क्षणार्धमपि व्यर्थं न नेयम्।
sukha-duḥkhecchā-lābhādi-tyakte kāle pratīkṣamāṇe kṣaṇārdham api vyarthaṁ na neyam

“Thus, give up the desires regarding loss and gain, and at each and every moment, never waste half an instant in something useless.”

Nārada-bhakti-sūtra is telling us that argument and debate (and their accouterments) only lead to material gain and loss. We should give them all up and focus all our energy on spending each and every moment engaged in truly profitable pursuits – the pursuit of genuine spiritual love for the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Śrī Krishna.

The only subject to be considered carefully is contained within the three words of this mantra:

हरे कृष्ण हरे कृष्ण कृष्ण कृष्ण हरे हरे। हरे राम हरे राम राम राम हरे हरे॥

1967 December 16: "I have given you a business idea and once you are successful in this you will get money more than your expectation and you can spend it for Krishna's service."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1967

1967 December 16: "My dictaphone is a little out of order and as soon as I get it back my work on Srimad-Bhagavatam will begin. At present, I cannot sleep more than three hours at night, and one hour in day. So if I keep fit, I think I shall have ample time to work."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1967

1974 December 16: "I am very happy to hear of the large number of new devotees you are recruiting. That is the real fruit of our preaching work, when people come and join and help us to spread this Krsna Consciousness movement."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1974

1974 December 16: "The difficulty is our GBC men are falling victim to maya. Today I trust this GBC and tomorrow he will fall down. So whatever we may resolve it will not be very useful."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1974

1974 December 16: "Our actual credit is that we are simply repeating Bhagavad-gita As It Is without changing it, altering it or adding any mundane opinion. We simply repeat what previous acaryas have said and that is our merit. Therefore it is being accepted all over the world."
Prabhupada Letters :: 1974

Gala Night Closing Kirtan with HH Kadamba Kanana Swami – 2013

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Lecture Podcast

Knowledge received by submissive inquiries and service is more effective than knowledge received in exchange for money.

Srimad Bhagavatam 2.5.1 Purport

 

"You can't minimize the importance you give your Japa (the essence of our philosophy, your link to Krsna, the most essential instruction of the spiritual master) without it having a negative effect on your spiritual life. And you can’t maximize the importance you give your Japa without it having a tremendously positive effect on your Krsna consciousness."

From Your Japa Blueprint
by Mahatma dasa

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 02 July 2013, Vrndavana, India, Bhagavad-gita 14.22-25)

So when we are looking at the first of these four verses (BG 14.22-25), prakāśaḿ ca pravṛttiḿ ca moham eva ca pāṇḍava, we can see, “O son of Pāṇḍu, he who does not hate illumination, attachment and delusion when they are present or long for them when they disappear; who is always unwavering, undisturbed.” So if we’re looking at these three words, illumination, attachment and delusion as translations for the words prakāśaḿ, pravṛttiḿ and moham, then we may not get it straight away just by reading through Prabhupada’s verse and purport. But if we look at the commentary of the acaryas, which I did because I was looking – illumination, attachment, delusion – why these words translated like this? Why? And the reason is because Srila Viswanath Chakravarti Thakur, in his commentary, explains these words in a particular way and Prabhupada followed that commentary.

Prakāśaḿ translated as illumination here is representing the mode of goodness, sattva-gun. Then we see pravṛttiḿ or pravṛtta, attachment, is a quality that arises from rajo-guṇa. Delusion, moham, the quality that arises from ignorance, from tamo-guṇa. In that way, it is relating to the three modes of material nature and of course, when one is suffering under the influence of the modes of material nature or hankering to enjoy the modes of material nature, this is material consciousness.

So we see that throughout the verse, a neutral attitude is emphasized because it is pointed out that as long as we are embodied, we cannot be free from the influence of the body – like we feel the heat. It’s not that a maha-bhagavat doesn’t feel the heat. He feels it but he is neutral, he is not getting agitated. He is not allowing his mind get absorbed, “Ah, it’s so hot. Ah, it’s so hot. Ah, it’s so hot. Ah, garam, garam, garam, garam.”

This is a normal conversation topic in India at this time of the year. The word garam is very common, which means hot. So, one gets hot if one says hot, hot, so hot. Naturally. So it is a very practical thing. We can experience it, that if we remain neutral we are not so much affected by the heat or by the cold.

As said earlier in the Bhagavad-gita:

mātrā-sparśās tu kaunteya

śītoṣṇa-sukha-duḥkha-dāḥ

āgamāpāyino ‘nityās

tāḿs titikṣasva bhārata (Bhagavad-gita 2.14)

One has to tolerate. So being neutral or to tolerate is the same. The mind is not dwelling on the material
circumstances that are created by the three modes of material nature dhyāyato viṣayān puḿsah sańgas teṣūpajāyate (Bhagavad-gita 2.62). When we start to dwell on material objects, then attachment arises. Either positive or negative attachment so either we start to hate, “I hate, hate, hate or I love, love, love”.

In 1944, in his Back to Godhead which Srila Prabhupada published with so much difficulty, the one for which he had to convince an army officer to release paper because paper was reserved for the war. Prabhupada said, “Yes, therefore my magazine must be published because it is for the war. It is for the war because my magazine will bring peace.” And he got it and then he brought it out. Then he wrote an article and he explained that the other side of love in the material world, is frenzy. He used the word frenzy which is like a state of intense anger or intense aggression which was representing the World War that was going on 1944 – the frenzy of the war. Prabhupada pointed out that the love for one’s country or the love for the homeland creates the frenzy for the others who are not part of that.

So love and hate come together! One can say, I love heat and I love cold or the other way around, like this, the dualities. Generally, loving one means hating the opposite and that is material existence. Neutrality is the position that we take but this is tapas. This is something which is different from the senses because the senses are sending information signals to the mind, like the dashboard. The senses are sending signals like red lights that are flashing on a dashboard.

“Too hot! Too hot! Too hot! Alarm! Alarm!” Or it can be another signal, “Very attractive! Very attractive! You cannot let this opportunity go by, it may never come again. You’ll never forgive yourself if you let it go.” So the senses are sending these kind of signals and they are received in the mind. It is there where the signals come in and it is there where we have to be neutral.

We cannot be neutral in the senses, that is not possible. The senses will not be neutral. Hungry is hungry. You can’t stop being hungry. It doesn’t work. But when we fast, just don’t think about it. Try not to think about it.

“Oh, we’re fasting! Oooooh fasting. Oh I’m so weak. Oh I’m so sick. Oh, I always get sick. Oh, whenever we’re fasting. Actually it’s not good for my constitution to fast. Oh really, it’s like kapha people can fast but vata people can’t fast at all. No, no. And pitta people also, they need to eat otherwise their own fire burns their bodies. Even dangerous. Serious. Yes. Alright,  then I’ll fast half a day then.”

So, the more one allows the mind to become pre-occupied, naturally it becomes more difficult. So, one learns to withdraw the mind, withdraw the mind from these sense objects and just as we’re doing in chanting, in chanting japa, we withdraw the mind and bring it back to the holy name, from everywhere just withdraw the mind. So therefore it automatically brings that state of neutrality, we become focused on Krsna.

 

—————-
“Do all your activities, and put the word ‘servant’ before the activity: servant-cook, servant-preacher, servant-speaker, servant-listener—whatever. Then Hari-dasa, or Giriraja Govardhana, and all your memories from here will stay with you. But if you take ‘servant’ away, you are only a preacher, only a cook, only a guru, only a disciple, and it won’t work. You should always have the word ‘servant’ before, or ‘dasa’ after.” —Sacinandana Swami

Adi Purusha dasa
Madhavananda dasa
Giriraj Swami
Sacinandana Swami
Jagattarini devi dasi
Bhurijana dasa

SB 10.51.46 Cockroaches With Lipstick 2013-12-05

Lecture – Srimad Bhagavatam 10.51.46 Cockroaches With Lipstick 12/5/2013 Dallas

Murari Gupta’s house is a stopover during “Navadvipa-Mandala Parikrama” which is organized every year about 10 days before Guara-Purnima Festival at Sridham Mayapur. One can visit this transcendental house by attending Navadvipa-Mandala Parikrama Read more ›

The Kali Yuga series No 4.

The post Harking back again to the quality of dissatisfaction and how to curb it by gratefulness appeared first on SivaramaSwami.com.

Use milk to get meat eaters to take to Masada, see quotes below to support the premise.

The milk is nothing, but it is cow’s blood transformed. Just like mother’s milk. The mother’s milk, wherefrom it comes? It comes from the blood, but transformed in such a way that it becomes nutritious to the child, tasteful to the child. Similarly, cow’s milk also, a most nutritious and valuable food.

Bhagavad-gita 7.3  — Montreal, June 3, 1968

Yes, you do not know. You do not know how to utilize the animal. Ignorance. The milk is also produced out of the blood.

So it is intelligence. You are drinking the blood in a different way, produced by nature with more vitamin values and more taste and more gentleman. Why should you kill one cow and try to drink the blood? The blood is there already, but in a different form, without any violence.

Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.1.17 — Denver, June 30, 1975

Another business is to protect the cows, and to give them food nicely so the cows will give enough milk. And from milk, you know, so many nice preparations, all full of vitamins. So why they should be killed? You are killing; the blood is not utilized, you are taking the flesh. But flesh is transformation of the blood. And milk is also transformation of the blood. So if you take, just like channa, it is as good as flesh. By taste, by benefit — as good as. So why if you can take the flesh and blood in a human way-blood is transformed into milk, and from milk there are so many good preparations-ghee, yoghurt, burfi, channa, so many preparations are available. This panir, channa, and let the animal live peacefully. Why are you cutting his throat? You require some benefit from the animal. Take this benefit. Why should you kill?

Morning Walk — May 10, 1975, Perth

“They cannot give up that small piece of meat. What is the difficulty?  The same thing can be made by milk, milk product, channa. What do you call curd? Cheese. You prepare cheese and fry it. You’ll get the same taste.”

Lecture, London, 12 July ’73 / Conversation, Melbourne, 2 July ‘74

“It is a very good idea for people to come to our vegetarian restaurant and take so many nice things, especially the panir, fried cheese, and sandesh, kachori, rasagulla, samosa and in this way they will forget their meat-eating. If you make a soup of fried panir with asafoetida and ginger, this will replace lobster soup nonsense.”

Letter to Tusta Krsna, Mumbai, 9 Nov. ‘75

Filed under: Cows and Environment

One of Srila Prabhupada's most cherished desires was to establish the New Vrindaban Community in America. He spoke at great length about building a replica of Vrindaban India, where there are seven main temples. In 1968, The New Vrindaban Community was founded in West Virginia to fulfill Prabhupada's dream of an ideal society based on Krishna Consciousness, or love of God Read more ›

The post Kirtan on December 15th in Krsna Valley appeared first on SivaramaSwami.com.

The rest of the week was spent around the Creamery – laying pipes below the freeze line; installing the pasteurizer; cleaning the barn; and getting the building in shape for inspection Read more ›

Anyone can visit Jihvna Mandir on the bank of Radha-kunda at any time of day and see that it is perfectly clean and groomed Read more ›